What is life like for Syrian refugees in Lebanon? Oxfam conducted research to find out how safe refugees feel and to understand the challenges they face. For researcher Nour Shawaf it was a humbling process. I thought I knew it all, I thought I had seen it, I thought I had read about it, I thought I had heard all …
Dear Family: Refugees in Greece write to their loved ones
Forced migration separates families. It wrenches children from their parents and grandparents, separates siblings, forces partners to live apart, and destroys extended family networks. During the past months Oxfam has interviewed people that have been stranded in Greece and asked them to share their experiences during their perilous journeys to Europe and the separation from their families. The right to …
Life after ISIS: Reflections from Iraq
Oxfam is working with conflict affected communities and internally displaced people in Iraq. Franc Cortada, Oxfam’s Program Director, recently visited the country and was impressed by people’s determination to get on with their lives in the midst of large scale devastation. On my recent visit to Iraq I had the chance to meet Oxfam’s teams on the ground and see …
Three ways cash is king for asylum seekers in Greece
Stefania Imperia asks what cash assistance means in practical terms for asylum seekers in Greece. With tens of thousands of refugees and migrants stranded in Greece for an undefined period, providing cash grants to asylum seekers living in the Epirus region of north-west Greece may represent not only an efficient and dignified means to provide humanitarian assistance – but also an …
Capitalising on research and translating it into action
Nina Gora, Gender lead at Oxfam in Greece, shares approaches for meaningful research dissemination that helps to reduce duplication and leads to collective action. he majority of humanitarian and development proposals and subsequent programmes contain a research or assessment component. Whether intended to better understand the context, the communities with which we work or the approaches we have tried, or …
CLARA: How a livelihoods and risk assessment tool is supporting women’s economic empowerment
There are more than 3.3 million displaced people in Iraq. Women and girls, and their ability to participate in livelihoods, have been particularly affected by this displacement. In this blog Corrie Sissons explains how the Cohort Livelihoods and Risk Assessment (CLARA) tool has been informing programme design and livelihood initiatives that can safely seed longer-term recovery. hen a shock happens, …